"Alright, then."
She laughs, "Chrissy and Beverly are obviously fans of the show. I may have to check it out. Hot doctors..." she trails off, looking up and nodding. "Oh yeahhh."
"Guess it hasn't been too busy this morning, huh?"
"Not too bad." She shrugs.
"Did Vin look at your car?" She rolls her eyes and sighs, "No, he promised he'd look after our last appointment. I wanted to be able to order any parts I needed this morning so they could be here Wednesday. His stupid ass didn't get here until five after eight."
I shake my head, a small laugh comes out. "Are you surprised?"
"I texted him last night. He knew I wanted to get a jump start on it…asshole. Where's Vance?" Huh. I didn't even bother to text him. "I actually don't know," I pull my phone from my pocket, "Did he come home last night?" I ask while shooting him a text.
I look up and catch an odd look upon V's face, but she looks towards her computer screen and starts typing. "Yeah, his car was in the driveway. I didn't hear him come home though, so I have no idea what time."
"So wait, how did you get here?"
"Borrowed Mom's car."
The door opens to the garage, and Mark waltzes through. He looks at me then at Veronica. "Hey sweetheart, you wanna call Mrs. Schultz and let her know her car is ready?"
"Sure." V turns and picks up the phone that's located on the other side of the computer, her back now facing Mark. Mark calling Veronica sweetheart bothers me, I know it shouldn't because it's coming from Mark. He gives pet names to every woman. But that's his boss' daughter, and he's much older than her. He's staring at me, trying to place me, I don't think he realizes who I am. It's been a while since he's seen me, but I haven't changed that much. I don't try to move or introduce myself.
"Who're you?" he barks. Veronica has the phone to her ear and looks over her shoulder at him. It's obvious he doesn't like me being here. I'm about to stand up and introduce myself; well, reintroduce myself, when Vin comes through and hits Mark with the door, pushing him forward.
"What the hell dude?" Mark turns to Vin.
"You're standing in front of the door asshole," Vin responds, then notices me sitting here.
"Chase! What's up!" Mark leaves the office, not caring who I am. He became an even bigger dick since I left.
"Nothing man, I told V I'd help out with her car." I see her chair turn my way in my peripheral vision because I never said it.
Vin cringes, and whispers, "Yeah, she's pretty pissed at me."
"Yeah, she is." Veronica's voice pipes up. We both look her way, she's off the phone now, her arms are crossed above the desk, and a cocky grin on her face.
"I'm almost done with this car, and I'll pull in your car right after."
She nods, the cocky grin still upon her face.
Vin looks at me. "Women."
It makes me chuckle, and V's eyes narrow at us.
"Where's Vance, is he coming to help?" Vin asks.
"I just texted him," I pull out my phone, with all the commotion I forgot to see if he responded. “He says he’ll be here in an hour."
Veronica throws her hands up. "This is awesome. You guys are so helpful!" her tone drips with sarcasm.
"Shut it, we'll figure it out," Vin retorts.
"I wanted to have parts ordered already!" she complains.
"We'll go to the junkyard tomorrow morning," he compromises.
"And what if they don't have any RSX’s?"
"Jeez V, call em."
She huffs and starts tapping on the computer before picking up the phone. "I'm gonna go finish this car, so I can get started on hers," Vin says pointing his thumb at Veronica. "Soon her head will be spinning, and she'll be spewing green shit out of her mouth like the Exorcist girl."
V throws her middle finger up making me laugh.
"You gonna wait around?" Vin asks me.
"Yeah, might as well." I shrug.
"Okay," He nods and then leans in. "Be careful, maybe you should go get a cross." he says low and moves back. Something black whizzes by our faces then clatter loudly to the floor.
"What the fuck?" Vin whispers, eyes wide. A stapler lays in pieces near the front door.
Holy shit! She threw a fucking stapler at our heads! "See!? She's fucking crazy." Vin backs up and runs out the door connecting to the garage. Veronica hangs up the phone. "I'm sorry. I wasn't aiming for you," she tells me.
"Well, I fucking hope not but that was inches from my face!"
"You would've survived. I'd nurse you to health out of pure guilt."
I liked that. It brought thoughts of Veronica, of the dirty genre, in a short nurse's outfit. "Would you wear the naughty nurse's outfit too?"
She laughs, and it's beautiful. "Would that help?" She purses her lips, and a black eyebrow arches upward. I nod, "Definitely." I walk to the door and pick up the stapler, snapping it back together easily. So, it’s not technically broken. Impressive stapler. I walk back to the desk, stretch my arm out to her, putting the stapler in her face.
"Here, let's try it."
She smiles wide, grabbing the stapler from my hand. She shakes her head and puts the stapler down on the desk. She sighs before telling me, "They have a couple."
My thoughts are still on her in the nurse’s uniform, "What?"
"At Harry's, they have a couple RSX's, but there's not much left of them."
She's pretty bummed, and this upsets me. "No worries. It'll work out, you'll see." I give her a reassuring half-smile.
"I hope so." She sighs. The front door opens, and Vance bursts through. I glance at the clock thinking ‘shit an hour went by that fast?’, but it was only about forty minutes. He pulls his sunglasses up and places them on top of his head. We can all see he just woke up.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Veronica says to her brother. He grunts. Then looks at me, "What the fuck you doing here so early?"
I shrug. "I thought you'd be here already."
"Why didn't you just stop by the house?" he questions. It didn't even occur to me. Veronica was the only thing on my mind, and I knew where she was.
"Did you not just hear what I said? You sure you're awake?"
"Shut up." He walks past us and into the little lunchroom behind V's desk. I look at her, and she's laughing. "He's never been a morning person."
"It's almost one," I point out, and she shrugs. I get up and walk into the break room. Vance is making himself a cup of coffee. I lean against the doorframe and cross my arms.
"What's your deal?" I ask him. He's pouring cream into his cup, and grunts. "Nothing." I watch him as he stirs his coffee--he's tense. He looks at me, and I'm afraid he knows I’m catching feelings for his sister. I've already decided this, but I'm not ready to confront her brothers about it yet. I have to approach her about it first. Vin pops up behind me. I didn't even hear him come in.